Home Is Where The Heart Is
by sweetkiwi604
Summary: When you find someone who makes you strong just by being close to them you hold on with everything you have. AU. Caryl. One shot.


Home Is Where The Heart Is

We all have chinks in our armor, an Achilles heel that can take us down; but, when you find someone that makes you strong just by being close to them, you hold on with everything you have.

Carol was in a whirlwind, moving from room to room, packing the house up in no time. There were boxes and piles of newspaper littering the worn carpeted floor and the walls were bare besides a few random nails where pictures used to hang. When Carol had gotten the call from her job that there was a position open in another state her first instinct was to turn it down. It didn't matter that she would be moving up in the company or that she would be making a considerable amount of money; her mind immediately went to Daryl. She couldn't imagine living a single day without him in it, without him there to make her heart skip a beat every time her name rolled off his tongue, or the way he would roll his eyes at her attempt at a joke. It was more important to Carol to make a life rather than a living so she turned the position down. That was until Daryl ran into one of her co-workers in town who had mentioned the opportunity to him. He sat on the information for a couple days waiting to see if she would bring it up but when she never did he asked her about it.

Carol had brushed the question off, making some comment about how she was happy where she was so why chance it, and went back to making dinner. Daryl wouldn't let her off that easy though. He took the wooden spoon out of her hand and turned her around so her eyes would tell him every truth her lips were too scared to. Carol would never lie to him, she had no reason to; but, she did choose her words carefully when it came to the topic of her new job offer in fear of losing the best thing that ever happened to her. It wasn't until he told her that he would go with her that her jaw almost hit the ground. It hadn't even crossed her mind to ask him to leave the only town he had ever known. She was still a bit reluctant but all Daryl would have to do was give her one of those half smiles and she knew that it was the right decision.

Daryl had gone to work the next day and put his notice in that he would be leaving while Carol accepted the new position. The trailer was put on the market to be sold and when the realtor called saying they had a bid everything became surreal. Carol was full of nervous energy and started cleaning everything in sight but Daryl was more than ready to leave the town that had brought him nothing but misery over the years.

Daryl came home from his last day at work and leaned in the doorway, thumbs hooked under his arms and ankles crossed. A small smirk pulled at the corner of his lips as he heard Carol muttering a few curses under her breath for making the box of books too heavy. It wasn't until she heard him chuckle that she realized he was even home and a smile quickly replaced the scowl on her face. She was reminded that this was going to be a fresh start for the both of them in a town where his last name didn't haunt him like the devil himself.

"Need a hand?" Daryl pushed himself off the doorway and Carol blushed for a brief second as a heat pooled between her legs. He saw her face flush and shook his head, "I meant with the box." He effortlessly picked it up and moved it to the pile off to the right that would need to be packed into the truck in the morning. Noticing the dirt handprint he had left on the box he started towards the shower. "Let me clean up and I'll start moving some of these boxes out tonight."

Carol bit her bottom lip as she shamelessly watched him walk down the hall towards the bathroom, "Need a hand?"

There was a time Carol had been nervous about being naked in front of him but that time had long since passed. He had sparked something deep within her, lighting a fire that he constantly fueled.

***Flashback***

_A movie played on the television but neither would be able to recall what it was. It had become a routine they easily fell into that when Carol came over they would grab a couple beers, pop in a movie, and end up making out like sex craved teenagers. Hours later with puffy lips and tousled hair, Daryl would walk her out to her car where their lips found each other for a few more minutes before the begrudgingly goodbyes were said and she went back to her own place._

_Carol's eyes flicked to the clock again wishing time would slow down. She knew she had an early shift tomorrow and would have to leave soon. They had been dating for awhile now and had multiple steamy make out sessions but that was as far as it would go. There was a sense of vulnerability about being completely naked in front of someone that she wasn't ready for yet, at least she didn't expect to be ready as soon as she was. It would be easy if shedding her clothes was the only problem. There were ways around that like keeping the lights off or keeping certain articles of clothing on. But making that connection with someone, the moment of handing your soul over to them and hoping they didn't destroy it - that's what terrified her._

_The first time it happened, when making out turned into roaming hands and the button on her pants was undone, Carol's mind shut down completely. She had scurried off the couch like a frightened animal. Daryl was quick to apologize but she was too embarrassed as she gathered her things and left. Carol's mind and my body had two different ideas on what it wanted and it was tearing her apart. It was easy being with Daryl, almost too easy, he accepted her for who she was including any flaws. _

_This particular night was different though and hands started to wander. His callused hand slid up the back of her shirt and the touch alone had her skin breaking out in goose bumps. She knew that he had needs and that he wouldn't wait forever, being afraid that she would lose him Carol broke her lips away from his. She pulled her shirt over her head, dropped it to the floor, and waited on baited breath to see what he would do._

"_Carol," he started, slightly surprised of what she had just done. If the bulge in his pants was any indicator he was more than ready to take her right there on the couch but he didn't want to pressure her. She hadn't talked much about past relationships but he knew they hadn't ended well and that this was a huge step for her._

_Thinking she had crossed a line she shouldn't have, Carol quickly went to grab her shirt, "I'm sorry, I thought…God, I'm so stupid."_

"_You're beautiful," he whispered, taking the shirt out of her hands and pressing his lips against her snow white skin._

***Present***

The last box was packed in the truck and Carol shut the door of the trailer for the last time. This was it, the day they had been waiting for, a new beginning that was mapped out just for them. Carol climbed into the passenger seat of the truck and let out a deep breath as it rumbled to life. She thought she would be stuck in that suffocating town her whole life but by some miracle she wasn't only getting away, she was taking her heart with her.

Daryl was more than ready to live in a place where his last name wouldn't be tarnished with the sins of his family. Every memory he had of this town was something he wished he would be able to forget. There was the trailer where his mother died, the smoke still filling his senses every time he passed it. There was the liquor store where his father frequented before coming home and beating Daryl until he prayed for the darkness to take him. He stopped at the intersection when the light turned red and memories of Merle flashed through his mind. It was the same intersection that a drunk driver hadn't bothered to notice the changing light and plowed into Merle taking away the last member of his family. They took away the same brother that had introduced him to the beauty sitting next to him.

***Flashback***

_The sun was still above the tree line but the day was quickly coming to an end. The once humid air became cooler and more bearable. A welcomed feeling for the guests of the party whose clothes stuck to their bodies like a second skin. Music played, the barbeque was lit, and drinks enjoyed. It was a regular occurrence for a Friday night in the small town. It was a chance to relax and most used it as an excuse to catch up on the gossip. Not the Dixon brothers though. Merle came for the free liquor and the possibility of finding someone to go home with. Daryl? Well, he mostly came to drive Merle's drunken self home at the end of the night after he had been smacked a few times for his unruly pick up lines. He had thought about making Merle walk home or sleep it off under the stars, but there was a loyalty to his brother that came into play. One that no one really understood or questioned but all wondered about._

_Daryl stood with one foot resting against the trunk of a tree and a beer dangling from between his fingers. He absentmindedly nodded along to whatever Merle was rambling on about at that particular moment but his focus was on the woman across the yard chatting with some friends._

_She was wearing a plain navy blue t-shirt and washed out jeans. The few rays of sun sneaking through the leaves accentuated the band of freckles across her nose, sprinkling out to her cheeks. Her whole face lit up as she laughed and he was sure that if he was close enough it would have been the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. She wasn't like those women in the magazines that were scattered around his brother's house but she took his breath away._

_"And I'm sure you let the sheriff pound your ass every night like some pussy." Daryl went to nod before he realized what his brother had said and settled on a scowl instead. Merle followed Daryl's line of sight and a mischievous grin broke out across his face. "Well shit, baby brother, there might be some Dixon in you after all."_

_Daryl pushed away from the tree he was leaning on, finishing the last bit of beer in the bottom of the bottle before heading towards the house. "Fuck you."_

_"Nah, brother, fuck her!" Merle called after him with a chuckle._

_Daryl tried to avoid his brother like the plague for the rest of the night, not wanting to hear his lewd comments, and grabbed another beer out of the cooler. Someone's muttering caught his attention and he had to squint his eyes in the dim light to see them. There she was, the girl from earlier, trying to get the top off her beer with little luck._

"_Need a hand?"_

_She held the beer out to him with a sheepish smile on her face, "Guess if I want it open I don't have a choice."_

_Daryl placed his hand over hers and popped the top off the bottle when a heavy arm rested over his shoulder, "Well, who do we have here, baby brother?" Daryl let out a long breath knowing what was going to happen next. He figured Merle was going to hit on her and then he would be left to drop the both of them off at Merle's trailer at the end of the night. "Cat got your tongue, sweetheart? What's your name?"_

"_Carol," she introduced herself but her eyes never once left the youngest Dixon's face._

_Merle smirked and patted his brother on the back, "Go easy on him, Carol. Daryl isn't as experienced as ol' Merle."_

***Present***

"Green," Carol stated and when he still didn't press his foot down on the gas she tried again, "Daryl…light's green."

He blinked a few times bringing himself back to the present and drove through the last intersection in town. It was in that exact moment, when Carol's hair was blowing around wildly from the wind coming in from the open window as she hummed along to the music with pure excitement shining in her eyes, that he realized that just maybe a part of him would miss the horrid town. After all, it gave him a reason to live, a reason to wake up in the morning, and a reason to for his heart to beat.

It gave him Carol.


End file.
